The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018 has recently been announced. This year, like every year, features inductees that have accomplished incredible things regarding the game of basketball. Thirteen new members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame features executives, coaches, accomplished female basketball players, and former NBA All-Stars. This class particularly features some of the best of all time in NBA history when it comes to passing and shooting the basketball, two traits that are more important than ever in today’s NBA.

Two of the greatest point guards in NBA history are among the headliners heading to Springfield, Massachusetts. Steve Nash and Jason Kidd were once teammates on the Phoenix Suns in the mid-1990s and both were terrific facilitators throughout their NBA careers. Their passing abilities gave teammates easy scoring opportunities and they both led the NBA in assists multiple times. Kidd ranks second and Nash ranks third all time in NBA history in assists as only John Stockton had more. It says something about their ability to distribute that both Nash and Kidd have more career assists than Magic Johnson, who was known for eye-opening passes.

Prior to Stephen Curry’s incredible shooting, many basketball experts considered Ray Allen as arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history. Shooting the three-pointer is more important now than anytime in NBA history and Allen has the most three pointers made in NBA history. He also hit one of the biggest shots, a three-pointer, in NBA history during the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. There is often a strong correlation between being a great three-point shooter and great free-throw shooter and both Ray Allen and Steve Nash are among the best ever at free throw shooting as both rank in the top ten all-time. Nash was also a terrific three point shooter.

The induction of Grant Hill into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was a head scratcher for some NBA fans who may remember his injury riddled career in Orlando. But he was aided by his terrific college career at Duke and his extremely productive career as a Detroit Piston, when he was one of the elite small-forwards in the game. His all-around talents as a Piston included being a quality passer who collected triple-doubles. He shared the 1995 Rookie of the Year Award with his Basketball Hall Fame classmate Jason Kidd. This Hall of Fame class is specifically high on the basketball skills of shooting and passing.